Former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska sat down for an emotional interview where he talked openly about his terminal Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and his faith in Christ, and how it changed everything he thought mattered.
We hold on to so many things in this life — our careers, our bank accounts, our reputations, our relationships, our comfort, our plans for the future. Some of these aren’t bad things on their own, but somewhere along the way, they quietly become idols we put before God.
And then life takes a turn. A diagnosis comes. A loss hits. The ground shifts under our feet. That’s when we realize most of what we chased was worthless all along. Those moments remind us that nothing — absolutely nothing — matters more than our relationship with Christ.
Sasse served in the Senate from 2015 through early 2023 and went on to lead the University of Florida as its president. He stepped down in 2024 after his wife Melissa was diagnosed with epilepsy. Then in December, he shared the news that he had metastatic Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He called it “a death sentence.” Doctors gave him about 90 days.
In a nearly hour-long conversation with Michael Horton and Dan Bryant on Sola Media’s YouTube page, Sasse didn’t hold back.
“Once we got diagnosed, we knew that the probability of a relatively near-term death is pretty high,” he said. And then, without missing a beat: “To live as Christ, to die is gain.”
He said he and Melissa found peace almost right away. But with a 14-year-old son still at home and two daughters in their early twenties, he wanted to keep fighting — not for himself, but for them.
The cancer has spread to his spinal column, bringing serious pain. But Sasse talked about that suffering like it did him a strange kind of favor.
“It definitely shattered idols really fast; lots of dumb stuff that I cared too much about, and I was too self-reliant about, seemed really pointless,” he said.
He pointed everything back to the cross: “Jesus did everything on the cross to fulfill the whole law. I fulfilled none of it. He fulfilled all of it.”
One thing he kept telling his kids stuck out. “Man, I wish I’d taken the Lord’s Day more seriously more in my life, because it’s a really good antidote to all those idolatries,” he said.
He also left behind this gem: “Don’t pretend that politics is the center of the world. The center of your world is where you’re raising your kids. It’s where you worship.”
A doctor’s word is never the final word. We serve a miracle-working God, and we have seen His hand in the lives of so many people. We have heard testimonies of miraculous healings — cancer vanishing, incurable conditions turned around, doctors left shaking their heads with no explanation other than God.
His power hasn’t changed one bit. So let us put our trust completely in Him and pray boldly for Ben, Melissa, and their children during this difficult season.
WATCH: Ben Sasse Shares Powerful Faith After Terminal Cancer Diagnosis
